Viacom, TiVo partner to give TV advertisers more data

Reuters Staff

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Media company Viacom Inc and
set-top box maker TiVo Inc have formed a partnership
designed to help advertisers better target their TV commercials
and determine if their ads led to store visits or purchases,
executives said.

The alliance, to be announced on Monday, is part of an
effort by Viacom to offer advertisers more than traditional age
and gender data about the viewers of a particular show. The
operator of Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV has seen its TV
ratings slip in recent quarters while viewers embraced digital
platforms, and executives have criticized traditional
measurement as incomplete.

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Advertisers also are calling for better data as viewing
habits shift.

Through the new partnership, TiVo will take audience data
for Viacom programming from the 2.3 million U.S. households that
take part in its research panel and link details from each
household with shopping and other information from third
parties. Names of the viewers are kept anonymous, the companies
said.

It is TiVo's first alliance of its kind with a TV network.

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"This partnership will not only enable advertisers to see
how effectively a campaign reached the target audience, but it
will shed light on whether the campaign enticed consumers to
take action such as going to a store or buying a product," said
Frank Foster, senior vice president and general manager of TiVo
Research.